The total amount of benefits he received was not listed in the criminal summons, and the Employment Security Commission denied The Star's request for the information, citing public records law.

According to court documents, Adams began reporting an income of $0 to a representative of the N.C. Employment Security Commission beginning Sept. 24, 2011 and continuing until July 28, 2012 to receive unemployment benefits.

The entire 10 months Adams was receiving the benefits, he was employed by a company in Mooresville and making more than $700 per week, court documents state.

According to the summons, Adams was making $721.16 a week for the week ending Sept. 24, 2011.

By July 28, he was listed as earning $795.52 each week.

Adams was employed by BestSweet Inc. in Mooresville.

According to the company's website, BestSweet is a manufacturer, developer, and marketer of consumer health care products for pharmaceutical, retail and food companies.

Debbie Brower, BestSweet's vice president of human resources, said Adams left employment with the company in August.

She said she could not say whether he left voluntarily or answer any other questions about his employment.

What's the typical result of fraud charges?

Sheriff Alan Norman said the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office served the warrants, but the investigation was done by the Employment Security Commission.

District Attorney Rick Shaffer said, typically, the fraud charges are usually misdemeanors and are handled in district court.

"Sometimes they are for trial; however, I would say most are resolved through plea," Shaffer wrote in an email to The Star . "I have no idea how many cases of this nature we prosecute, but I do not believe the number is exceptionally large."

Shaffer wrote that if a defendant is convicted or takes a plea, restitution is usually ordered.

He said employment security fraud is a class one misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of 120 days in jail.

'We're doing better at catching these folks'

Larry Parker, public information officer with the N.C. Employment Security Commission, said he didn't have details on Adams' case, but in general there are several ways to detect and cut back on fraud.

Parker said claimants have to file a weekly certification letting the division know if they have returned back to work or not.

He said the division has a national database of new hires that it uses to cross match and make sure claimants aren't receiving benefits while working.

Page 2 of 2 - He said, recently, about 10,000 letters were sent over a six-month period to claimants who were recognized in the database.

Parker said it resulted in about 4,000 cases of stopped benefits.

"We're doing better at catching these folks and catching them sooner," he said.

How is ESC preventing fraud?

The Division of Employment Security has also implemented a new program that became operational this month.

According to a press release, the Treasury Offset Program (TOP) will allow the state to recover fraudulent overpayments through the IRS tax refund program.

"We've always had the ability to go after state taxes..now this gives us an opportunity to go after federal tax returns," Parker said.

Nearly 20,000 notices are being mailed to unemployment insurance recipients, the release stated, and the Division is seeking up to $50 million in improper payments.

Punishment could be more severe in the following months as well.

Parker said after Dec. 1, the NC General Assembly decided that those that go to court will now face class one felony instead of a misdemeanor.

"We're stepping up from a punishment standpoint," he said.

Reach reporter Rebecca Clark at 704-669-3344 or rclark@shelbystar.com or follow on Twitter @TheStarRebecca